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The latest injury news ahead of next weekend's Carabao Cup Final between Newcastle United and Liverpool.
Liverpool are hoping for a ‘positive update’ on the fitness of forward Cody Gakpo as they prepare to face Paris Saint-Germain and Newcastle United over the next week.
The Netherlands international has been in fine form this season after scoring 16 goals and providing five assists in 38 appearances in all competitions as Arne Slot’s men have raced to the top of the Premier League table and are looking for further silverware on two other fronts. However, Gakpo has not appeared since he came off the bench for the final half-hour of his side’s 2-0 home win against Newcastle after being an unused substitute for the Champions League last 16 first leg win at PSG in midweek and was left out of the squad for Saturday’s Premier League win against Southampton.
Slot stressed the ankle injury Gakpo is believed to have sustained ‘isn’t too severe’ and is hopeful the former PSV Eindhoven forward will be back in contention as his squad prepare for the return leg against PSG and next weekend’s Carabao Cup Final with Newcastle.
Speaking ahead of Saturday’s win, Slot said: ““He didn’t train yesterday yet so let’s see if he can today. Again, close call, it’s not a long-term injury but he still had a bit of pain yesterday, so he’s not able to train. I can’t give you the answer yet. We'll hopefully get a positive update on Cody. The way he hoisted aloft [Alisson] Becker at full-time [in Paris] suggests the injury isn't too severe at this stage. He's been a big player this season. So, fingers crossed he is clear for a return.”
After losing just one of their 28 Premier League games ahead of Saturday’s Anfield meeting with Southampton, there appeared to be a shock on the cards as the relegation threatened Saints took the lead in first-half injury-time with a goal from Will Smallbone. Slot shuffled his pack at half-time to provoke a reaction from his side as Andrew Robertson, Harvey Elliott and Alexis Mac Allister replaced Curtis Jones, Konstantinos Tsimikas and Dominik Szoboszlai. His action received the desired response as a Mo Salah brace and a Darwin Nunez ensured his side claimed a win that takes them a step closer to the Premier League title - and the former Feyenoord head coach has admitted he made a slight error in naming Szoboszlai in his starting eleven after the Hungarian midfielder produced a surprisingly below-par display.
He said: “Today, if I could do it one more time over, I would have started it differently than I started today – but you don’t know this in advance. Every time I am sitting here and talking about Dominik, I’m talking about he is a machine. He can keep on going, running and running and running. It was maybe the first time this season I saw a different energy from him. Which is maybe normal. Maybe I made a mistake by playing him because he gives so much every single game. The good news is he only played 45 and is more rested for the upcoming week now than he is if I played him for 90.”
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Related topics:LiverpoolPSG
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